1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic roll tape cutter, more particularly, to a tape guide device for an automatic roll tape cutter, which guides an adhesive or non-adhesive tape so as to smoothly feed out and cut the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, when goods are sold in such various stores as department stores or large discount stores, these various goods will be properly packed with a packing material like paper. Such a packing paper is mainly bonded by means of a band-type adhesive tape.
For the purpose of the more efficient and fast packing of goods, a so-called automatic roll tape cutter has been provided and widely used which has a large wound tape, i.e., roll tape contained therein, and, during packing, feeds out a required length of the wound adhesive tape and cuts the same automatically.
Such an automatic roll tape cutter, as shown in FIG. 1 comprises upper and lower cases 1 and 2, a tape feed-out unit 3 installed in the cases 2 and 3 for feeding out a tape by means of a plurality of rollers interlocked with a driver, a tape guide device 4 positioned between a tape supporting portion (not shown) and a roller 3a in the tape feed-out unit 3 for guiding the roll tape so as not to be folded during the feed-out of the tape, and a tape cutter 5 openably installed in front of the upper case 1 for cutting the fed-out tape.
The tape cutter comprises a fixed blade and a movable blade (not shown) that are engaged with each other for cutting papers or thin plates like a general shearing machine. The tape cutter is constructed in such a manner that the movable blade is positioned slantingly at a proper angle to minimize a cutting load and to facilitate the cutting and that the tape is continuously cut at one side thereof while the movable blade is ascended and descended with respect to the fixed blade.
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, such a roll tape cutter according to the prior art includes a tape guiding portion 10 wherein a plurality of guide rolls 11 is constructed in such a manner as to guide the movement of a roll-type tape T supported by a tape supporting portion when it is fed out. In this case, the guide rolls for supporting the bottom surface of the tape T is made of rubber or synthetic resin and the guide rolls for supporting the upper surface of the tape T is made of metallic material.
A plurality of guide protrusions are formed on an outer circumferential surface of each guide roll 11 at equal distances, so that the guide rolls 11 are coupled together with one another in such a manner that guide protrusions of one guide roll are arranged alternately with the those of other guide roll. The surface of the guide roll 11 made of metallic material is undergone a knurling process to guide the roll tape smoothly.
The tape guide device of the prior art, however, has problems in that a scratch is formed on the surface of the tape T by the knurled surface of the guide roll 11 made of metallic material, causing damage to the tape. Especially, in the case where a transparent tape is used, the scratch is visible to the naked eye, thereby avoiding the use of the roll tape cutter.
Further, since it is difficult to accurately guide the movement of the tape, a distance (g) between upper and lower blades is formed widely at the outlet of the tape guiding portion 10 in the tape cutter after taking into account the sufficient movement space of a roll tape, which doing an injury to user.
Still further, in the workplace where the tape cutter is used, various materials for packing such as paper bags, non-adhesive tapes, strings or color ties, etc. are generally used in addition to the adhesive tape, but the use of these packing materials requires a separate cutting instrument. For the tape cutter of the prior art wherein an adhesive tape is guided through the guide rolls with its adhesive surface attached to the roll during guiding, however, users suffer from an inconvenience of preparing a separate cutting instrument since the non-adhesive packing materials could not be cut.
An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the conventional tape cutter by providing a tape guide device for an automatic roll tape cutter wherein an adhesive tape and a non-adhesive tape (hereinafter, referred to as xe2x80x98a tapexe2x80x99) such as a string or a color tie could be cut while being accurately guided.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a tape guide device for an automatic roll tape cutter wherein a tape is guided with its adhesive surface not damaged.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tape guide device for an automatic roll tape cutter, the tape guide device having a roll tape loaded therein for feeding out a required length of the roll tape and automatically cutting the fed out roll tape, the tape guide device comprising: a tape guiding portion disposed at the inside of a main body of the tape cutter, and including a plurality of guide rolls which guide the roll tape with its upper and lower surfaces contacting with the rolls, each guide roll positioned at the lower portion of the tape guiding portion having grooves and projections of which noses are tapered formed on its outer circumferential surface at equal distances, guide rolls positioned at the upper portion of the tape guiding portion being respectively mounted in proximate close to the opposite guide rolls positioned at the lower portion of the tape guiding portion in at least an outlet and an inlet for the tape, and the plurality of guide rolls of the tape guiding portion having a gear ratio set in such a manner that the rotation speed of guide rolls at the outlet side of the roll tape being gradually faster than that of guide rolls at the inlet side of the roll tape.
Preferably, the upper guide roll of the tape guiding portion may have uneven grooves formed on its circumferential surface.
Preferably, the tape guide device of the present invention further may include a supporting plate for supporting the tape so as not to be derailed between the upper guide rolls in the tape guiding portion.
Also, preferably, the tape guide device of the present invention further may include a tape guiding plate having a brush attached thereon for removing contaminants stuck to the roll tape and static electricity at the outlet of the tape guiding portion.